"Just a warning Cho, they will be dickheads when you meet them, I'm 100% sure of that," Harry said, looking at Cho worriedly as the Hogwarts Express made its final approach into Kings Cross Station, marking the end of another school term. The end of the term came faster than either Harry or Cho expected, with no more life-threatening scenarios or tournaments in the way, Harry and Cho spent their most peaceful weeks in their relationship together. To Harry's delight, the remainder of his examinations went by smoothly (except for History of Magic, that was still rather dreadful). The term however, had to eventually end and after the Feast where Dumbledore gave his final speech as the Headmaster of Hogwarts, they packed up their trunks and boarded the Hogwarts Express and headed to the section of the year which Harry hated the most. The Dursleys.
"You have warned me too many times to count Zhu," Cho sighed, "I can handle them myself thank you very much, I'm an adult already."
"Yes but…" Harry sighed, "Vernon is slightly racist."
"Whateverrrr, as long as they are not pure racist it's fine."
"But he's gonna treat you like shit."
"Let him try," Cho smirked, "anyways, I am literally paying to live there, he don't have shit on me, and if he tries anything I have you to back me up."
"I will obviously, but just be prepared alright?"
At that moment, the train finally stopped and looking outside onto the station, Harry could see many families waiting at the station, among which, he could spot most of the Order, including Sirius, Lupin, Tonks and Kingsley. Next to them were Mr and Mrs Weasley, finally, Harry could spot the entire Chang family next to them, wishing to see their daughter again before she goes and stays with Harry. Seeing this, Harry felt slightly guilty for robbing them of their family time. Harry then spotted Vernon standing in a corner, determined not to mix with the Wizarding crowd. Exiting the train together with Cho, Harry bid goodbye to the various friends he made throughout the year before making his way to his group. He immediately gave Mrs Weasley a hug despite seeing her throughout the last few months before moving on to the Order members and finally Sirius.
"Missed being on this station?" Harry asked.
"Oh definitely, it's the symbol of my freedom from the Blacks," Sirius said with a bright smile, embracing Harry tightly.
Finally, Harry moved to the Changs where he embraced Ms Chang and Cheng who excitedly returned the hug.
"Sorry for taking away your family time," Harry said to the family.
"No need to apologise Harry," Mr Chang replied with a smile, "it was Cho's choice which we stand by, she's an adult as well, we can't really deny her her freedom."
"You say it as if I'm a rebellious daughter" Cho snorted, rolling her eyes before embracing her father tightly.
"You two take care of yourselves alright?" Mr Chang said, "If they mistreat you in any way, let us know, we will handle them."
"Indeed," Sirius replied, nodding his head firmly, "you might want to remind them that I was locked up as a mass murderer."
"I might," Harry replied, smirking.
"Let's not keep him waiting then," Mr Chang replied, looking over his shoulder at an irritated Vernon.
Both Sirius and Mr Chang followed them to the corner of the station where Vernon stood, arms crossed and face red with annoyance.
"Took you long enough boy!" He said.
"Apologies for the delay," Mr Chang replied politely, "just sending off our children to live with your family for a month, speaking about our children however, I have to emphaise that the safety of my daughter is of the utmost importance to me, I have already paid you the amount we have both agreed on and I expect that she will be given the amenities that we agreed on."
"Agreed, we will both know if our child is being mistreated at your household and trust me, we won't want to see what we would do," Sirius said, staring at Vernon like an attack dog, ready to pounce and attack.
"Are you threatening me?" Vernon replied, glaring back, who are you even?"
"I am Sirius Black, Harry's godfather," Sirius said with a menacing glint in his eyes, his smile widening when Vernon's face started paling, "ah yes you must have heard about me before, I have also heard a ton about you, I might have been framed for mass murder before but trust me Dursley, if I hear anything about you mistreating Harry or Cho, I would become one."
"You- you."
"Yes Dursley, I would, after all, I come from a family of murders who target your kind," Sirius said, sharply jabbing Vernon's chest with his finger, "my very own cousin would take immense joy and satisfaction in torturing and murdering your family, the only reason she cannot reach you is that Harry was merciful enough to stay with you which protects your family, I however, won't be as merciful if I hear that you are mistreating them."
Harry, Cho and Mr Chang watched in amazement as Sirius turned the usually red Vernon as pale as the Bloody Baron.
"We will leave you then," Sirius finally said, satisfied with the message that he had sent, "we after all, have taken too much of your precious time, take care Harry."
Sirius then gave Harry a huge hug before giving one to Cho as well with Mr Chang doing the same before both apparated away.
The journey back to Privet Drive was uncomfortably quiet with Vernon still reeling from the threat earlier. However, when they finally reached their destination, the usually red and grumpy Vernon was back, seemingly regaining his confidence now that the adults were gone. Little did he know that Harry was as dangerous as them and was now able to do magic.
"In you go!" Vernon exclaimed, rushing them into the house. Entering the house he always hated, Harry could see Petunia and Dudley in the living room watching television. Both turned their heads to look at the incoming guest. While Petunia gave a curious look, as if she was observing and judging whether Cho was worthy enough to live in her house. She however, slowly nodded and turned her attention back to the television programme. Dudley on the other hand, looked awkward and uncomfortable, seemingly unable to decide whether to greet Cho or ignore. He eventually, decided on the later and turned his attention back to the television.
"Let's get the hell out of here," Harry whispered to Cho before pulling her up the stairs.
"Not so fast boy!" Vernon said, pointing at the sofa, "sit!"
"Can we at least put our trunks up first?" Harry asked, as politely as he could.
"I don't have the time to waste! Now!" Vernon shouted.
Shrugging, Harry led Cho to the sofa, and they both sat down. Looking at Cho's face, Harry could tell that she was utterly confused about all the muggle technology around her, especially the television.
"I will explain them later," Harry whispered to which she nodded, turning her attention back to Vernon who sat down angrily.
"Now boy," he snarled, glancing between both of them, "you are lucky that we allowed you two to live here."
"Well, this was never my ideal home anyways," Harry shrugged, "I'm doing this to protect you three, after all, my godfather does own a mansion, so do I technically."
Harry knew that he had played a wild card, Harry watched as Vernon's eyes widened, looking at Harry curiously.
"You own a mansion?" he asked curiously, unconvinced
"It's a family house, it's in ruins now after the First Wizarding War but I can easily restore it if I want to."
"Restore it?" Vernon laughed, "You don't have money boy, we have been providing for you all your life."
"Lies," Cho said, glaring at Vernon, "Harry has been paying for his own expenses ever since he came to live with you all.
"Mind your mouth you Chinese dog," Vernon snarled, Harry instinctively pulled out his wand, ready to defend his girl.
"You- you can't use that here," Vernon said, face paling a little, "you will get expelled!"
"Oh I can now," Harry smiled menacingly, "I got emancipated a few months ago, that's also how I learnt that I'm a billionaire and the transactions to your account."
Harry watched as Vernon's eyes continued to widen, turning to look at Petunia who shrugged, apparently knowing all of this new information.
"You knew?" Harry asked Petunia.
"I did," she sighed, "Lily told me in a letter when she settled with him."
"What-" Vernon said in surprise, "you-"
"Yes, he is a billionaire," Petunia sighed once more.
"And I also know that I have been providing the payments and deposits into your bank account every year," Harry continued, "I also know the specific amounts and trust me, I know that you have been providing a lot less than you should be."
"I provided you more than enough," Vernon snarled back, "I provided you shelter and protected you."
"You abused him!" Cho shouted back, face red with anger now, "You abused him for his whole life, treated him like shit and used him as your own slave, you call that providing shelter?"
"Now you Communist bitch-"
Before Vernon could complete his sentence, Harry's wand was already at his throat.
"You would not," Vernon snarled, "emancipated or not, you can't use magic out of school."
"Watch me," Harry replied, before charming both his and Cho's trunks up the stairs and into their room much to Vernon's horror.
"Don't see any expulsion letter do you?" Harry said, looking at Vernon's terrified face, "Let's set a common ground here, I do not want to live here for another second of my life, if it was up to me, I would leave here now and never come back, I'm only doing this to protect you 3, have you noticed the increase in murder cases around the UK? It's because of them, the Death Eaters, if I didn't come back to live with you they will come for you because you are related to me, they will torture and kill you! So let's make it simple here, we will leave you alone and you will leave us alone, we will take care of ourselves and you will ignore us and let us live peacefully, and last but not least, I do not want to hear any of you be racist towards her, if I hear anything like that again, we will leave and you will deal with the Death Eaters yourself, deal?"
Harry glared at the Dursleys menacingly before focusing his attention solely on Vernon who was now pale and in shock, he however, slowly nodded his head. Taking it as his cue to leave, Harry took Cho's hand and left the room. Opening the door, Harry was greeted by a similar room to one that he lived in for the past few years. This time however, the room had a new layout with a double bed instead of his usual single bed, enough to accommodate both Harry and Cho. On the bed however was a note. Picking up, Harry read it.
no funny business
Handing it over to Cho, both burst out in laughter.
"I don't give your dad enough credit, he has a good sense of humour."
"Indeed, but you do know that he will probably be your boss in the future?" Cho added.
"Yeah, Head of Auror Office, quite a big promotion if you ask me," Harry replied.
"Mhm, thank god this came after the fall of the pureblood families, imagine their outrage if a foreigner is at the top of the Ministry."
"Yeah, let's hope Amelia does something about the racism after we put Voldemort down for good," Harry replied much to Cho's agreement.
"So… what the hell was that thing down there?"
"It's a television," Harry explained, "it's muggle technology, don't exactly know how it works but it uses an energy called electricity which is generated through various means and it powers the device, it also powers all the lamps that you see in muggle London and all."
"That's brilliant," Cho said in amazement, "they do all that without magic?"
"Yeah, honestly, if the wizarding world was more open-minded, we could use it to make our lives so much easier."
"Maybe under Amelia we can see some progress I guess," Cho sighed.
"Indeed, in the meantime, I reckon we should go do some grocery shopping, we have to make our own meal tonight and I don't plan to starve."
"How do I look?" Cho asked. It was a Sunday evening and both Harry and Cho were preparing to head to a party named "Slug Club" on Dumbledore's orders to extract some much-needed information from Horace Slughorn. While Harry was wearing a simple suit with his two House Rings, Cho was wearing something a lot more glamorous and beautiful. She once again, wearing a Cheongsam-inspired dress, this time however it was dark green with floral patterns, going along with it, she wore her usual necklace and paired it with a simple ring.
"Stunning," Harry said in amazement, "honestly, this is up there with your Yule Ball dress."
"Which is better though?"
"Yule Ball just because of the novelty factor, regardless you look stunning in both, I would go to more parties and balls just to see you in these."
"Flatterer," Cho chuckled, "let's get moving then, we have a mission to accomplish."
At that moment, both heard a doorbell, signalling Dumbledore's arrival. Immediately rushing down, they were greeted by Dumbledore who was at the entrance.
"Ah Harry, Cho, you both look excellent, I would assume that you are ready to go?"
"Yes Professor."
"Excellent, we will not take up your time anymore," Dumbledore said to Vernon before leaving with both Harry, Cho and Lupa behind him.
"How will we be getting there Professor?" Harry asked as they made their way to the outskirts of Privet Drive.
"Through apparition," Dumbledore replied, "grab onto me Harry, Cho, Lupa, jump onto Harry's shoulder."
After the same weird sensation where it felt like he was just squeezed through a tight rubber tube. They exited the apparition. Looking at the building in front of him however, it was nothing impressive, just a tiny house in the middle of nowhere. Reaching out using his Ancient Magic, Harry could feel a powerful Extension Charm on the house and a strong Wizarding presence inside.
"I would assume that the real venue is hidden in the tiny house?"
"Very well spotted Harry," Dumbledore nodded, let's enter shall we?"
Making their way to the tiny house, Dumbledore knocked on the door in a unique rhythm.
"Who's there?" a deep husky voice said from behind the door.
"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, together with Harry James Potter and Cho Celina Chang."
"There is one more, who is it!" the voice hissed.
"Ah my apologies, it is Harry Potter's pet wolf, Lupa," Dumbledore said as Lupa howled in agreement.
"Very well then," the voice said before the door opened.
As the door swung open, Harry was greeted by a huge golden ballroom, filled with wizards and laughter as everyone was seemingly having a good time. Around the room, Harry could see different groups of wizards sitting together at round tables, all ready to be served their meals.
"Ah Albus you have arrived," a fat and bald old man got up and said, "you have brought some guest I see?"
"Indeed Horace," Dumbledore responded, "I have brought Mr Harry Potter and Ms Cho Chang to join the party today."
The moment Dumbledore said his name, Harry could see every wizard and witch in the room turn their head to look at him, slowly observing him with many of their eyes quickly moving to his scar.
"Some things never change do they?" Cho whispered into his ear.
"Very much so," Harry sighed.
"Merlin's beard," Slughorn said, "Mr Potter and Ms Chang, welcome welcome, take a seat you three."
"Go ahead first," Dumbledore whispered, "I have old friends to catch up with."
Making his way to Slughorn's round table, Harry did not recognise the other four people sitting at the table.
"Ah it's a pleasure to finally meet you my boy," Slughorn said warmly, "I still remember teaching your mother, what a student she was."
"I've been told that she was an excellent witch," Harry replied, with an intentional tinge of longing and sadness in his voice.
"She indeed was," Slughorn sighed, "one of the most talented witches that ever graced Hogwarts, definitely one of the best I've ever taught."
"Harry definitely inherited some of her talents then," Cho added, "the magic I've seen him do is jaw-dropping, even scary at times."
"Really?" Slughorn said with deep curiosity, "I won't be surprised, his parents were both very very talented, even his grandparents."
Suddenly, a waiter walked up to the side of Slughorn and whispered something to his ears.
"Ah yes yes, I will handle that," Slughorn replied, "my apologies my boy, I have some issues to handle, I will be back to continue our conversation in no time, meantime, you should introduce yourself to the other guests, they must be excited to meet the Chosen One."
Haizzz, I really hate that name, Harry thought as Slughorn left the table, leaving an awkward trio of Harry and Cho with Lupa on his lap to speak to the guest. Thankfully for him, someone took the initiative.
"It's good to finally meet you Mr Potter, my daughter has spoken highly of you," a middle-aged man said, reaching out to shake Harry and Cho's hand.
"Your daughter?"
"Yes, I'm Cyrus Greengrass, Daphne is my daughter, this is my wife, Elanor," Mr Greengrass said, "our daughter has told us about how you protected her from Malfoy."
"It wasn't much," Harry replied, "I was defending myself as well."
"Still, our daughter has told us about how you took seven of them by yourself and placed her out of harm's way, the magic she told us you performed, those are very advanced spells, you will go a long way Mr Potter, whether as an Auror or a Quidditch star."
"Thanks?" Harry replied awkwardly under all those praises, "but I'm just taking it a step at a time, I haven't even received my O. grades yet."
"Very modest," Mr Greengrass chuckled and nodded, "truthfully, I would love it if my daughter ended up with someone like you but you are clearly taken by Ms Chang over here, Daphne has spoken very highly of you as well Ms Chang."
"She has?" Cho said with some surprise.
"Indeed, she has spoken highly about your intelligence and talent at Quidditch, from what I've heard and read, you two definitely belong together."
"Thank you Mr Greengrass," Harry replied politely, "how is Daphne doing by the way."
"She's doing quite well, she's been leaving the house quite a lot though, visiting Longbottom," Mr Greengrass replied, "I've requested to meet him but Daphne objects to it rather heavily."
"Oh, Neville is an amazing guy, he might be a little clumsy and a little dim at times but he is actually a brilliant and hardworking wizard, very brave and thoughtful as well, they both are made for each other in my opinion."
"Hm, I will reserve my judgement for when I finally meet him, I however, hold your opinion highly."
"Er thanks? But no really, Neville will take care of Daphne really well, a piece of advice however, when you meet him, do not put him on the spot and pressure him, his biggest flaw is that he lacks confidence and is insecure about himself, if you want to see the true him, you should allow him to warm up to you guys, that's probably why Daphne does not want you to meet him yet, she's probably worried that Neville will have a bad reaction to it," Harry said.
"Not to worry dear," Ms Greengrass said, "I will make sure Neville feels right at home and that Cryus does not do too much."
"I never do too much," Cryus said with a smug smile, "we are taking too much of your time, the others at the table want to talk to you as well, we can continue our conversation later."
"Very well spotted Cryus," the woman beside Ms Greengrass said, looking at her, Harry felt that he had seen her from somewhere before, "I'm Gwenog Jones, pleasure to meet you two."
"Great to meet you," Harry replied, "congrats on the last game."
"It was easy," she replied smugly, "the Cannons are hopeless these days, anyways, I've watched both of you play in Hogwarts, you two are something special, natural leaders and skilled seekers, I assume that you both will go professional no?"
"I'm still unsure," Harry replied.
"Unsure about?"
"Being a professional Quidditch player would be fantastic but I'm thinking about becoming an Auror, to stop someone like Voldemort (the four people at the table looked uneasy) from coming to power again."
"Very noble and brave of you," Mr Greengrass said, "but using his name like that…"
"I've nothing to fear about him," Harry replied firmly, "I have faced him too many times to count and bested him in some, fearing his name just makes him more powerful, he is a mortal after all."
At this proclamation, the table looked at him curiously, unsure of what to think of his statement. Jones however, quickly moved on.
"Well at least I won't have to face you on the pitch, probably would have to break your pretty face if I did," she said before turning to Cho, "what about you Chang, you are rather impressive yourself."
"I want to go professional."
"Very good very good," Jones replied, leaning in and looking at her with more interest now, "and what team do you want to join."
"Probably Tutshill," Cho shrugged, "I've supported them for the longest time."
"A pity then," Jones sighed, "I won't apologise if I ever injure you if we play, anything for the win eh."
"I guess…" Cho replied hesitantly.
The last guest at the table was a ton quieter, observing Harry, Cho and especially Lupa curiously. When he finally realised that Harry was looking at him, he finally spoke.
"Pleasure to meet you Mr Potter and Ms Chang, I'm Sebastian Savage."
"Wait, you are an Auror aren't you?" Cho asked, "I remember seeing you before."
"Well remembered Ms Chang, I am an Auror, Thomas is my boss," he said before turning to Harry, "the heads of my office have spoken highly of you."
"They do?" Harry replied.
"Yes, it's no small feat Potter, impressing the heads of the British Defence."
"It's nothing impressive, I'm a fifth-year after all."
"A fifth-year who took down multiple Death Eaters who trained Aurors and Hitwizards has fallen to, a fifth-year who defeated the Dark Lord."
"I had help for all of that," Harry protested, "without Dumbledore, Voldemort would have ended me."
"Modest indeed," Savage chuckled, "I hope to work with you in the future, or more fittingly, work under you at the rate you are progressing, now tell me, what kind of pet do you have there?"
"This is Lupa, she's a werewolf cub, she's not just a normal wolf, it's-"
"Hyper intelligent," Savage finished the sentence, "yes yes, and also immensely deadly, able to brutally murder any wizard in seconds, a dangerous creature but also a powerful ally to those it's loyal to, keep her around you at all times Potter, an ally in dangerous times like this important.
Suddenly, Savage's eyes darted down to his hands, specifically, his Rings.
"House Rings, interesting," Savage said, filled with intrigue, "but you have two of them, one presumably the Potter House Ring, the other… your mother was a muggle-born so it isn't from her house, Sirius Black could have given you a Black House Ring but the Black's Ring looks nothing like that… this is from a powerful ancestor isn't it?"
"Er… yes," Harry said uncomfortably, Harry could see how intelligent and observant Savage was from the way he quickly noticed everything about Harry, noting what to take note of in case of a fight despite how unlikely it was.
"Very interesting," he said, "chances are, it's incredibly powerful, likely powered by some form of Ancient Magic, last but not least, you are wearing a bracelet aren't you, I can see the outline of it, show it to me would you?"
Complying, Harry showed the bracelet to Savage, who after taking a quick look, nodded.
"Not just any bracelet, a Protection Bracelet, not the most powerful but can withstand basic attacks, and the Stag symbol on it, it's your Patronus yes? Chang also has a similar one with a Swan symbol which should be her Patronus, I would assume that both are related somehow, able to maybe communicate with each other, or send distress calls"
"Er yes."
"Indeed, you see Potter, they are more skills when it comes to being an Auror, you are not there just to fight, but observe and get information about a person, and should a fight take place, place yourself in the best situation to win, that's the art of being an Auror, I look forward to the day where we meet on the field and get to work together, and hopefully, you will impress me when that happens."
"Ah it looks like you all have introduced yourself to each other," Slughorn said as he took a seat at the table, "my apologies for that sudden exit, had to deal with some of the staff, so anyways Harry my boy, how have you been, the holidays have just started after all."
"Oh yes, I've been well, just spending time with Cho and learning more magic."
"My days Harry, studying during the holidays? You certainly got that from Lily, James would never study during the holidays."
"Well I was more like my father a few years ago, but the Triwizard Tournament and Voldemort's return sparked something inside me."
"My boy!" Slughorn exclaimed, "Do not say his name out loud! You of all people should know how terrifying he is!"
"No Mr Slughorn, I of all people know how mortal he is, he is not an immortal deity that I should fear, in fact, calling him Voldemort is already avoiding his name, his name is-"
"Yes boy yes boy!" Slughorn hurriedly said, looking slightly terrified at Harry saying Voldemort's name, "But still, you shouldn't use his name like that!"
"I would do so and continue to," Harry said firmly, "my parents never feared him and called him what he was, perhaps I got it from them but fearing his name is ridiculous."
Harry watched as the table shifted around uncomfortably, even Savage looked unsure. Most importantly however, Slughorn looked mortified.
"Ah there is still a seat for me here," Dumbledore, appearing in the nick of time to save the conversation, "oh Horace, you are looking a little pale, are you feeling alright?"
"Oh yes yes, feeling fine," Slughorn said, returning a slight smile."
"Good to hear, good to hear, ah Cyrus, Elanor, wonderful to see you again, how are both of your daughters?"
"They are doing very well Albus," Mr Greengrass replied, "I haven't given you my thanks yet Albus, for your protection and care for my daughters."
"No need to Cyrus, in fact, it's a failure of mine that student harassment like that can happen in my school," Dumbledore replied, "truthfully, it was my sign to finally step down and let someone new take my place, especially with the war upon us."
"Nothing much you can do when some students are brought up the wrong way," Mr Greengrass sighed, "these blood supremacists have held too much power in our society for way too long."
"Indeed indeed, hopefully Amelia's reign can transform those families to be more like yours, I have the utmost faith in her."
"So do I, her takedown of Cornelius and Dolores was impressive to say the least," Mr Greengrass replied, "though I have to admit, they did dig themselves a grave after what they did to you and Mr Potter."
"Indeed indeed," Dumbledore sighed, "only if Cornelius put aside his pride and listened, we are lucky that the Battle at the Department of Mystery turned out in our favour."
"A costly victory," Savage suddenly added, "we lost quite a few talented Aurors that day."
"Indeed Sebastian, indeed," Dumbledore sighed.
"A toast for all that we lost," Slughorn said, raising his glass which the table did as well.
With that slightly depressing talk over, the table quickly started digging into their food. Truthfully, Harry felt that the food was excellent, something different seeing that they had Chinese daily for the past week. While Harry wasn't complaining about the excellent food that Cho made, he did miss having a more traditional British meal. When everyone finally finished their meal, the tables were charmed away and replaced by standing tables and positioned away from the centre of the stage, with a cue from Slughorn, music started playing as guests took to the centre to have a dance.
"You know, I know that we are on an assignment but we haven't had a dance for over a year," Cho said.
"Well then," Harry replied, "Ms Cho Chang, would you like to dance with me."
His question was answered with a violent pull from Cho, bringing both of them onto the stage. Remembering his training for the Yule Ball a year ago, Harry placed his hand on Cho's waist and both slid perfectly on beat into the song.
"I really miss this," Cho whispered into Harry's ear.
"Me too."
"Really? Last I remembered, Mr Harry Potter was pale and terrified before and during the dance," Cho teased.
"That Harry Potter is long gone," Harry replied.
"Is he?" Cho replied, "What happened to him?"
"He improved and grew for his girl," Harry said as he leaned in for a kiss.
"Absolute cringe," Cho said as Harry pulled away.
"Yet you like it."
"I don't," Cho protested.
"You blush when I say things like that."
"My cheeks love betraying me don't they," Cho lamented.
"Definitely," Harry laughed.
As both continued to dance, the music quickly came to an end, as always, it was replaced by a faster one. Unlike their first dance, Harry did not pale or tense up, looking at a slightly concerned Cho, Harry nodded and gave the go-ahead to dance more.
"So the old Harry is truly gone hm?" Cho asked as they danced to the beat. Truthfully, it was a little too fast for Harry who was struggling to keep up. He however, believed that he was still doing pretty alright.
"Indeed," Harry replied, "did I tell you what happened in the Limbo with my parents?"
"No?" Cho replied curiously, "You only told me about meeting your parents and the explanation."
"Well more stuff happened in there," Harry continued, "it did not only look like the Yule Ball, it was actually a ball."
"Wait, by a ball you mean you actually danced?"
"I did," Harry replied, "with my mum."
"Oh…" Cho said in a slightly soft and emotional voice.
"Yeah, we danced to the same slow song that I danced with you during the Yule, we talked and talked until the song began the change."
"And what happened?" Cho asked.
"She told me that it was their time to go, their time to leave the ball, they also told me that I could either follow them out of the Ball and into the afterlife or I could stay on the dance floor and return to fight him, to literally face the music."
"And you did."
"Yes," Harry replied, "who knew that that Ball could mean so much."
"Yeah," Cho chuckled, "it literally changed both of our lives."
"Very much so," Harry replied, "it was perfect, every single bit of it."
"Well, Hermione and Ron did have a pretty big fight."
"Nah fuck them, it was perfect for us."
"Now that I agree," Cho replied.
The rest of the party went by quickly. For Harry and Cho, they largely stayed out of conversations and instead, tried to keep tabs on Slughorn. They quickly realised that he was drinking a large amount of alcohol which would either help them to achieve their target or absolutely derail it. Knowing that they couldn't do anything about it, both decided to just hope for the best. As the party slowly reached its end, Harry watched as the crowd slowly disappeared until it was only them left. Dumbledore had mysteriously vanished as well which both assumed was part of the plan. Moving towards a thankfully conscious Slughorn, Harry made his move.
"Mr Slughorn, are you alright?"
"Oh my boy! Harry! Yes yes yes, I'm doing well, just a little tipsy," Slughorn said, with a slight slur to his voice.
"That's good, I wanted to have a conversation with you, about… my parents."
"Oh of course," Slughorn replied, "Lily was truthfully magnificent, especially at potions, every potion she touched turned into magic, watching her brew a potion on her first-ever lesson was truly inspiring, of course, some students didn't take a Muggleborn beating them on her first try well, they tried to talk her down and bully her but she was not taking it, oh no no, she put them into their place immediately, no boy wanted to mess with her again after what she did to that Slytherin boy, I don't remember his name but rumour has it he had a cast on his private after his attempt, no boy she wasn't friends with went close to her again afterwards, other than of course, your father and his friends."
"What was he like?" Harry asked, "My father."
"Oh James, what a talented wizard he was, potions was never his best but he still excelled at it, a common trend about him was that he would excel for every practical exam but not do well for the theoretical ones," Slughorn chuckled, "if he worked harder as hard as Lily, I reckon he could have beaten her, or at least be at her level, both were incredible though, top scorers in the school."
"What about his antics? I heard he got up to a lot of mischief."
"Oh get up to mischief he did," Slughorn laughed, "him and Sirius, a nightmare for every teacher in the school, they rained terror in their first five years, James slowed down in his last two and tamed Sirius a little, but those two in the first five years were terrifying for every teacher, they managed to add wings to all my cauldrons once, they started flying all over the place during the lesson and caused massive mayhem, truly some brilliant magic on display for a third-year, I did not know whether to be impressed or furious, of course, Lily was the one to fix the situation, lashed out at those two, she thankfully didn't get physical, I think she would have regretted doing that seeing that she got together with James in the end."
"How did that even happen? From what I've heard Lily absolutely despised him," Harry asked.
"Oh she did not despise him," Slughorn replied, "Lily herself wasn't the most innocent of students, many would believe she is complete rule-biding and the perfect role model but she definitely had a playful side to her, she did enjoy some of their pranks when they did not come at the expense of someone, I believe that she was impressed by some of the pranks as well, you see, Lily admires loyalty, humour, talent and kindness the most, truthfully, James had all four since the start, the only problem was that his kindness did not extend to everyone, those who truly knew James knew that he was actually very caring and kind, it was just that he enjoyed fun more than that, when that changed, Lily finally fell for him, even as a teacher you could see the change in her in the sixth-year, she started coming to my parties with him, hanged around him more, they finally came together in their final year, truthfully, that was very heart-warming to see, the other teachers would agree as well, all of them had grew to like James because he started standing up to other bullies, especially those who bullied because of race and blood purity, James truly hated that, he would get into fights and duels to protect someone from that, he continued to play pranks yes, but they were very harmless in those years, those were the dark times as well, when You-Know-Who reign and threat could be fully felt, his pranks brought light to those dark times and the teachers truthfully appreciated him for it."
"I wish that I could hear of those stories from them," Harry chuckled softly.
"Oh my boy," Slughorn replied sadly, "everyone who been through what you have would, no one deserves the fate that you have."
"No one does," Harry agreed, "but I'm not complaining about it, I lost my parents and grew up in an abusive home but as I grew, I realised how important it was to me, to my character and my perception of life, I realise that that was why I want to fight him so much, why I want to defeat him and stop the cycle of suffering."
"But you are just a boy Harry," Slughorn protested, "you should not be fighting You-Know-Who at this age!"
"If not me then who would?"
"Aurors! Trained wizards!"
"But they are not me," Harry replied, "it is my fate and my destiny to fight him, only I can defeat Voldemort."
"Don't use his-" Slughorn protested before Harry interrupted him."
"I would use his name," Harry said firmly, "Voldemort is a mortal, a lonely and terrified mortal, one who does not feel love and someone who is broken, not saying his name is giving him the fear and respect he wants, someone who ripped his soul because he fears death does not deserve that from me."
Harry watched as Slughorn's eyes widened and face paled, clearly understanding what Harry hinted.
"Y- you… you know?" Slughorn asked worriedly.
"Obviously I do," Harry replied, "I'm fighting a war against him, to win I need to destroy them."
"That should be the job of a trained wizard!"
"Don't you understand?" Harry said, "Only I can defeat him, whatever they say in the papers about me being the Chosen One is true, I am the Chosen One."
"The papers were right?" Slughorn said filled with curiosity and shock, "There was a prophecy saying that you will defeat You-Know-Who."
"The prophecy said that either Voldemort or I would have to kill each other," Harry replied as he conjured up a vial, "Sir, I need the memory, that information you gave Tom Riddle, I need it to defeat him, be brave Sir, be brave like my mother, without that information her sacrifice would mean nothing."
Harry watched as Slughorn's eyes welled up with emotion and his face contorted, filled with mixed feelings and conflict. Finally, he took the vial that Harry offered to him, closing his eyelids once more to produce a silver tear before using the vial to catch it and giving the vial back to Harry.
"Don't think less of me when you see it my boy, I did not know what he would become."
"I won't Sir, none of us did," Harry said before taking Cho's hand and leaving the room.
When both left the party, Harry spotted Dumbledore standing on the grass field, looking into the sky and admiring the stars.
"I see that you have gotten what we came for," he said, attention still on the sky.
"We did Professor," Harry replied, handing the vial over to Dumbledore.
"Come on, let's go and find out what awaits us."
Author's note
Hey guys, infinitesalts here, just wanna thank all of you for your support and for following my story. I just want to update you guys about how the story is progressing. I'm currently writing chapter 51 and the planning of the story is going rather well. The problem however, is that my school have resumed and since it's my national exam year, the load is kinda crazy and I either have no time to write or lack the energy to. Due to this, I might be decreasing the number of chapters uploaded per week to one chapter only. This kinda depends on how long the chapter is really, if it's above 4k words I will probably do that. My bad for this inconvenience, I fully intend to continue this story to at least the end of the 7th year so don't worry about me abandoning this story (I really hate it when others do this), the story will just progress slower now so yeah, I hope you guys continue to enjoy it